A parent who really desires to understand his child does not look at him through the screen of an ideal. It is only when one feels no love for the child that one imposes upon him an ideal, for then one's ambitions are trying to fulfil themselves in him, wanting him to become this or that. If one loves, not the ideal, but the child, then there is a possibility of helping him to understand himself as he is. Krishnamurti

Saturday, September 19, 2009

And a couple more news items...

Graham Badman, author of the government review into home education, has made an urgent request to councils in a bid to reinforce his report with extra evidence. In a letter sent out to directors of children's services last week, Badman said: "I would like to strengthen my statistical evidence in advance of the select committee hearing so that it is more extensive and statistically... Read it here.

Home educators today reacted in astonishment to news that the covering letter from DCSF admits that the evidence on which the 28 recomendations were based was a "small sample" and that they needed to show "more statistically rigorous" information to the Inquiry. Results from Freedom of Information requests has shown that only 25 out of 152 local authorities responded to the earlier request. More here.

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"Children who are labelled with Asperger's Syndrome do not need more structure and direction in their lives; they need considerably less. They need, primarily, to be freed from being seen as products or being objectified and defined by a list of subjective observations. They need parents who are unquestioningly on their side, not to impose their own or so-called experts' agendas on their children in the name of loving assistance, but simply to assist their children in carrying forward their own intrinsically motivated lives in process. To do this requires a willingness to ask radical questions and to let go of many entrenched assumptions about education, psychology and parenting, to name but a few. It requires going against mainstream and often allegedly expert opinion. It is not an easy path. It is not a neglectful path. It is a moral path."